correspondence of that nature. quite a process moving forward. hopefully today you will be able to give me some guidance on which location to pursue environmental approvals on. we're also most likely need to vacate a portion of the greenwich paper street in order to build a refreshment kiosk. we'll also go through the building and planning department for review of plans and then we would come back to you with a lease amendment, which would have the food and beverage kiosk. you would be recommending, hopefully, the amendment to the board of supervisors to amend their lease to allow for food and beverage service. that concludes my presentation. happy to address any comments that you have. thank you so much. >> commissioner low. >> just one question, before we go to public comment. casanda, can you comment on

the two locations. >> we have heard concerns because of the sidewalk that goes from one side of the street to the coit tower that there may be some additional congestion through pedestrian using the crosswalk, whereas the west side has a connecting sidewalk. so there are no streetss to cross. >> public comment. >> i'm going to read names off and come up in any order. richard rothman. gordon francis. i'm not sure if it's mariam or marvin hinkle. >> good morning commissioners my name is richard rothman and i don't live up there, but i give tours up there about once a month. i think it's time to bite the bullet, and to me, either

location is fine. my main concern is that protection of the murals. i think having a kiosk outside where we could -- where the vendor could sell tickets and people would wait outside and have some kind of -- like in the restaurant, a call-system, so people know when their time is to go up. because in the summertimes the lines get very long and that is cause for potential damage to the murals. so if we can avoid lines inside the building by having a kiosk. the other thing when cassanda told me that even if you make a decision today, it is still going to take a year to get up and running. so i would just encourage the commission to use their wise judgment and make a

decision today. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> yes, my name is gordon francis, i'm an eastside dwelling on montgomery side. you will hear from a number of eastside dwellers. it was an excellent presentation by miss costello and does clarify some of the issue. the question do we actually need it is a valid one and to have refreshments at every historic site, i think is debatable. given by the sounds of it very light refreshments, why is a kiosk needed at all besides doing this inside? i hear the issues about the murals and certainly the renovations are lovely there, but does one need an outside kiosk because regardless of what it looks

like, it's still another external distraction and there will be trash no matter what one does. how many facilitis are nearby? there are many facilities as individuals go up the stairs or down the stairs on either side of the hill, that they can get the light refreshments that they might need. the second issue i would like to talk about is really eastside dweller issue. i'm on montgomery, so a little further down than some of the main players you will hear from. the diagram presented by miss costello was informative, but if you look at the residents overall, and many of them are nearer the eastside than the west side and there is on the west side, there is park -- between the kiosk and the homes, there is also a roadway and there is further green space. so there is actually greater separation. i think when you are thinking about the positioning here, is

that all other things being equal, the advantage to the site would be a west side one rather than an eastside one, because it would be less disruptive -- it would be the eastside site is going to be more disruptive to residents than the west side location. all other things being equal. i think what will you hear from some of the other presenters, things are probably not equal, because some of the safety issues, including the traffic one will be allude to, but non-resident hillside dwellers is more likely to occur. unless there is a compelling reason to gone on the eastside -- the eastside should be excluded as a site for a kiosk is win is needed at all. thank you. >> next speaker if i have called please come up.

[ reading speakers' names ] >> good morning. thank you all for all the work you do, and i ahave been in front of the commission. i think it's really important to think through these real dilemmas. it's a very, very congested area. terry has done a fabulous job attracting people. it's a very, very clean operation. the murals are, of course the big magnet and the lines, cassandra is not in any way distracting from the fact there are a lot of people.

how this can be managed, just like the tower of pisa, sent just about a kiosk in a parking lot. it's really a management problem. there is no question in my mind if there is to be a kiosk, the disruption it will cause on eastside is very impact. we see people -- those of white us who park up there, you see such confusion now. there is no signage to help people know where to park, where to be and where to work and i know public works is going to address it, but i implore you to take the time to really think this through, and this is not a negative influence at all on cassandra

or the department. i think there should be traffic studies and i could go on, but you all know and apply your wisdom, because this is unique. in my mind it's unprecedented. there has never, ever been something like this and i think the ticket lines will be substantial. i think the population that lives there is always impacted. we know that. but to add to it in this way really, really takes consideration. so if there is to be a kiosk, i implore you to look completely at the west side. because it just deserves that look. thank you. >> thank you. >> so names again. either maryanne hinkle, john

barber, rob hammond and we have lewis -- and i think john ritz -- i don't know, go ahead. >> good morning. >> thank you. >> i support my neighbors and the community and that -- >> could i get you to speak into the mic. >> the west side in my opinion and the opinion of my neighbors and others is much safer. there is a tremendous amount of traffic that occurs as everyone has said. and there is a bottleneck at top, where the eastside was proposed anyway, so i think that would be enhanced or added in terms of the traffic flow would be slowed down. so there would be additional safety issues as was mentioned. as well as litter. that is going to be an issue on either side, but i do believe due to the open area of the proposed west side, you will

just have a more natural, i guess, disposal, because of the existing trash facilities and so forth. largely, again, i'm looking at safety. i'm looking at additional litter. i'm looking at the the congestion around the steps on the eastside so to that end, if it does have to go in, i support my neighbors in that it should be on the west side. that is all i have. my esteemed neighbors have additional comments. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hi my name is rod hamid the owner of the probably the closest building we're approximately 100 feet away from the proposed location. my issue -- i'm sort of

neutral on having a kiosk at all, but i'm particularly strongly against having it on the eastside. primarily two reasons as people mentioned the safety reason and cassandra explained crossing it, but it's a large parking lot and traffic is horrible. you have people waiting 20, 30, 40 minutes, waiting to park in coit tower. and road-rage right now is an issue and as people are crossing the parking lot in weird positions, there is going to be a confrontation or accident at some point. also, i have a window that looks directly at where the proposed kiosk is, 100 feet. there are some bushs in the way, but i would be look at that every day. it's a very seclude area and we had a problem with transients in past because it's quiet over there and setting up camp.

i think at night, there is going to be issue -- there is already tons of noise and people partying and talking and doing other things at night. i think people will be behind there doing god knows what. that could be helped a little bit with lights, but then i will have lights shining in my bedroom every night, which is not really a lot of fun. what else? also, i think having the location for a place for selling tickets so far away from the entrance to the tower doesn't make sense. as i said, those people are going to buy tickets and have to walk across the parking lot. whereas if it was closer on west side, it's sort of a natural -- you buy the ticket and you walk 100 feet down the sidewalk and then you are in the building rather than having to cross the parking lot itself. that is all i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker please.

>> hello i'm joan barber. >> can you pull it down? there you go. >> thank you for hearing us out on this. i, too, am a resident, but probably the newest resident. i have here three years now on the eastside. i look directly out at the greenwich steps and see all the people on the greenwich steps. first of all, i would rather have no kiosk, because i will look right up at the back of it it. so i will see it. since the last storm two trees have gone down. it will make it even more evident from some of the rooms in my condo. so my preferences are no kiosk on the outside, because telegraph hill has

drawn me there because of its beauty and the fabulous views that we have. so for me to look at back of a kiosk every day will not be to my advantage. there are other safety issues. i have a garage facility and i walk aways to get though that garage and i see the traffic and i see how people exasperated and they zoom up the hill. so there is a safety issue there, because they aren't even aware of the crosswalk there. they are just anxious to get there to park. they park illegally, not in spaces and everyone, but the

driver jumps out of the car and runs around and they decide usually not to go up to the tower because of the waiting list. if people are thirsty when they get up -- and i'm sure they are more often thirsty than hungry a solution is to put up a couple of drinking fountains. that would be far more desirable than the kiosk. thank you very much for hearing all of us. >> thank you. >> robert lewis and john. >> good morning commissioners. >> could you speak into the mic. >> sure. >> thank you. >> commissioner, commissioners, my name is lewis and i have lived on telegraph hill for over 28 years. as you have heard from many of our neighbors today and will hear from others, those of us who live closest to the parking

lot, even by cassandra's measurements have a real concern for our own quality of life. but the primary reason why we think, if there must be a kiosk and many of us don't really agree that there should be, but if there must be to support the park and coit tower and the museum quality that it has, then we really implore you to place it on the west side, where it is much safer from a pedestrian and vehicular point of view, as well as from the point of view of disturbing or diminishing view corridors. on the eastside location you have a very close, in-your-face, just three blocks way to the bay. there is ada access on the west

side and it's closer to the entrance of the tower and the sidewalk is broader on that side. so again, think of pedestrian safety when you thinking about the locations. we feel that it would be a tremendous impact on the quality of our lives and our right to quiet enjoyment of our properties. and we even feel, some of us, i strongly do. i'm in real estate that it could diminish our property values. so imagine if you lived across from alta plaza park or lafayette park, would you really want a commercial venue on the corner of the park across from your home? but really the biggest issue is public safety and this is a no-brainer in our opinion. so if there must be further commercialization of an historic site, then we really implore you to place it on the west side where it's much further away from other residents. thank you. >> thank you.

>> next speaker. >> hi. i'm john rit. i am a resident, one of the closest residents to the proposed eastside location. i live right on the greenwich steps and also want to take a moment to thank cassand ra and the vendor. i park at coit tower on a regular basis and the parking is contentious. i want us to consider night-time experiences like the time at midnight when i came home a couple of months ago a couple teens or 20s guys climbed on to our property for the view.

that is a private residence and a bold move and i don't know if you remember we climbed on everything. so i want to consider that, but we live anyway public place. i knew that what i moved there. it's a great monument. i can hear conversations when people take a flash photo it comes in my window all night long. it's getting worse as i have lived there over the last 14 years. while the tower has been there since 1933, it's important to consider there has never been a small restaurant up there and i think it might be for good reasons. there has been a lot of public votes for east and west and what i heard is people that are for the west really against the east is based on quality of life and real valid distinction than maybe a more subjective, casual opinion as to why

someone would want it on the eastside. and i think the safety issue is clear. there is so much aggression that happens up there. but with that said, i am still not concern that we need a free-standing beverage mini restaurant -- i don't know if that is the only form that beverage can take up there. because like i said, i have been going up there every day and i remember seeing alternatives to a free-standing space like that. i don't know, is it worth the expense? how many restaurants are in san francisco? does anyone know? i don't know, there are thousands ; right? there are a lot. i could walk to 200, 300 restaurants from any house. i don't know that we need a kiosk. thank you. >> robert. >> hi my name is robert bigelow and thank you to the commission for allowing me the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. i live 100 feet from what would be the back of the eastside

kiosk and setting aside for a moment my personal objections to the eastside location, i just want to express my astonishment that the safety issue isn't being more put in the forefront. the people ignore that sidewalk or that crosswalk. that crosswalk is way off to the lefts as you are facing away from the kiosk and people just trance across the parking lot wherever they want. really to dramatically increase the number of pedestrians interacting with vehicles deliberately and unnecessarily is a total disinterest in public safety. i have checked the records and people have gotten hurt and have been impacted by vehicle new york vehicles in that location. it would be just waiting for

the next incident that would be dramatically increased. on a couple of other housekeeping items, i don't want to repeat what others have said. i think the west side as proposed has a mistake. it should be over 8' and a sturdy wooden walk to extend over to pushing it over a little bit, would allow terry to have a straight wall to build it on. it would be less of an imposition on the steps themselves and if you do and i hope you do favor a west over east location, that you consider giving terry some freedom in how he does that. i also take exception to the idea that an eastside location is cheaper than a west side. no one has pointed out that eastside makes a pocket right behind it. i call it a "crime pocket." it's basically invisible from everywhere -- we already have doing unimaginable thing new es

in visibility locations and we're so offended by this eastside proposal and adamantly and collectly concerned that i hadn't wanted to mention it, but terry asked me to mention to the commission, we're going to be here to take every opportunity to appeal. if we lose our opportunities to appeal, the appeals don't go our way, you force us into litigation and if litigation doesn't go our way, you will force us to tally the number of crime incidents and the number of times there are injuris to people and close calls. and move for the removal of the kiosk. we feel very strongly about this and hope that there is either no kiosk or if there must be a kiosk, it would be on the west side. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> those are all the cards i have and so if anyone else would like to come forward, please do. >> good morning, commissioners, my name ison with protect coit tower a group

that through years sponsored the ballot measure, prop b that voters approved to prioritize the funds generated at coit tower for the maintenance, preservation and protection and to strictly limit commercial activities and private events there. there are three issues that i see. one is elevator tickets and mural protection. two is temporary food cart versus permanent building and there three is money. richard was one of the people three years ago, who sounded the alarm that the murals were in trouble and the building was falling apart and we had to do something and we did. why could you no -- i could not agree more that tickets need to be sold in a different the granddaughter has said to the commission, why don't you sell tickets online? she is 92 years old.

i can't believe we haven't thought of that first. you could do that starting tomorrow. obviously you have to figure out how to time people and make it structures, but there is no reason to at least start a pilot project tomorrow. terry has great people at tower coit and enthusiastic and energetic and why couldn't they stand outside with an ipad and sell tickets. all the person does when you walk across to the back, punch up on the ipad and sell it. why couldn't you do it with a person with no building to start and you could get that going without a year's worth of ceqa. that and the lines are not just busy in the summertime, but busy on a regular basis, weekends in particular, but at this moment there could be a line stretching across the murals. the art commission has rules, but they are not enforced that people bump into their with

backpacks and elevator tickets should be sold there of course. food cart versus building is what it comes down to. what has been done for years is a temporary cart that goes away at night, and not there 24/7, 365 days a year. building is now, this will be the biggest building ever built in front of coit tower. terry made clear in the meeting he is closing $10,000 a month because he is only getting 10% of the elevator stream which 90% leaves coit tower. i want to close what coit family said in their letter, they are not against food and beverage at coit tower, nor with are we. they are against puting a building when one is not necessary. we oppose the construction of a concession stand building in front of coit tower and urge you to prioritize the funds to keep coit tower so very special

as the people of san francisco asked you to do. that is the coit family, seven members who couldn't be here today and i read it for them. thank you. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else? richard, come on up. go ahead. >> this place coit tower is part of my childhood heiau. i played there from the time i was a little kid and i looked at that place what you want to do and commercialize this area, i don't like it. straightforward, i don't like that. when you talk about comparing inside/outside, i look at it and i see too much traffic. you are going to jam up the traffic on the eastside or west side and you have the stairwells on the eastside. it's a slow danger walk down. so you don't have a good

exit/access should it get all jammed up at the top. i don't think there would be needed much more than a vendor truck, even if you allow that through the management guidelines. the vendor truck would leave and be go and another important point is safety of children. that particular part of the hill, when you step over the concrete part, steep drops. so i don't necessarily see that, but if you would like to sell tickets, you could sell tickets anywhere. you could sell tickets, like what was spoken about already. the commercializing of that piece of property, the lilian coit tower and commemorating the great fire that happened

here. [speaker not understood] you have got to take a better look at that place up there. i don't like the kiosk. i know there is another trailer that goes around there on the west side. and the other part with the stairwells, you go way down, there is a very dangerous walk there leading to the bottom of the hill there. so my recommendation is if you going to have a vendor or anything like, that the worst-case scenario that would i see, even if you individual a vendor

truck that would have to every day come in and leave. one other point, i talked about the murals up there before, too. it's missing [speaker not understood] get some of the people to paint that back in. they took it out when they repaired it. thank you. >> thank you, richard. >> is there anyone else who would like to make public comment on this item? okay being none public comment is closed. >> let me make an observation before i ask commissioners to weigh in on this. when we had the contract with terry come before us, it was the community that came to us and said that they wanted a better solution than a temporary food cart. the introduction of serving food up there is not new at all. it's been there for at least 20 years. so the idea was to try and improve on the situation and through many meetings and i want to thank